Crating apparatus



L. A. HAWTHORNE. CRATING APPARATUS. APPLICATION nun DEC.28, 191a.

4 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

L. A. HAWTHORNE.

CRATING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED DEC.28, I918- 1,354,250.PatentedSept. 28, 1920 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M/I/ENTQR 0 Laws 0-649/77/108/75- L. A. HAWTHORNE. CRATING APPARATUS.APPLICATION FILED DEC.28. 191a.

Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Q W Q a? a A n if w.

I lNl/E/VTUR 001.; fl 1/19 WT/WE MS, I A M TTORI'I'EYS UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS A. HAWTHORNE, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO STEEL UTILITIESINCORPORATED, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

" CEATING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented S t 28 1920 Ap lication filedDecember 2a, 1918. Serial No. 268,738.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be, it known that I, LOUIS A. HAwrnoRNn, a citizen of the United States,resldlng at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certaln new and useful Improvements in Crating Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to crating machincry, and more particularly to anovel apparatus for automatically assembling bot tles or othercontainers and placing them in proper order in shipping crates, boxes orthe like.

In the handling of containers such as bottles on a lar e scale, suitableapparatus for rapidly, quicily and accurately filling the numerous cellsor checkers of the crates or boxes, is a very desirable auxiliary forthe expeditious and economical carrylng out of that operation.Accordingly, the present invention has primarily in view a simple andefficient apparatus which may he advantageously and conveniently used ina bottling plant in conjunction with the other usual,

machinery, whereby the several containers may be automatically loadedinto the crates without danger of breakage OIdlSOIdGI.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of thistype of maximum simplicity, not only as to the number of parts involved,but also as to the operations necessary to assemble and deposit thecontainers in proper order within the crates,

while the latter are automatically advanced into receiving positionsynchronously with the operation of the depositing or transferringinstrumentalities.

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appearas the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consistsin the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated andclaimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying y iew taken substantially on the line 44 of lg. 5 is ahorizontal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the means employed for connecting anddisconnecting the shaft of the operating unit with the source of power.

Fig. 7 is a detail View partly in elevation and partly in sectionshowing the construction of the device shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 88 of Fig. 5.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawings.

In carrying forward the general object of the invention, namely that ofrapidly and expeditiously filling the cells or checkers of a crate, itis proposed to provide an apparatus including means for assembling anumber of containers in a group, the said containers having a spacedrelation corresponding to that of the compartments in the crate,

and means for bodily transferring the group are received from thelabeling machine or other device which may have handled the containersjust preceding the packaging operation.

For the purpose of removing the containers from the collecting station Sand transferring or depositing the same into the crate C travelingtherebelow in the guide-way G, there is preferably located at saidstation a novel transfer device A which is adapted to cooperate with aplacing device B for displacing the collected and assembled bottles intoengagement with the transfer device from which they are ultimatelydeposited in proper order into the crates.

The transfer device A and placing device B have suitable actuatingconnections with an operating unit designated generally as D arranged atone end of the frame F, and as will hereinafter more fully appear, theoperation of said devices A and B is controlled entirely by the bottlesor other containers collected at the station S.

The foregoing gives the general plan and viously referred to.

functional idea of the machine, and now referring more specifically tothe detail structural features and essential characteristics of theapparatus embodying the foregoing units, it will be observed that theframe F is provided with a suitable intermediate upright portion 1having thereon a flat to or table surface 2 whose edge 3 issubstantially in the same plane as one of the walls of a containerfeeding guide-way 4 through which the containers may be conveyed on asuitable belt 5 or equivalent conveyor and deposited onto the table 2 insuccessive order. This table 2 and its related instrumentalitiesconstitute the collecting station S pre- At one edge thereof operatesthe transfer device A which essentially consists of a vertically movabletransferring head designated generally as H which is adapted to receivethe containers from the table 2 when the pusher plate 6 of the placingdevice B is shifted across the container receiving zone of thecollecting station.

to hold the containers until they are properly directed to a positionfor deposit in the checkers of the crate, and to then release the sameto permit them to gently drop into final position. 4

As the present machine is illustrated particularly in its application tothe handling of bottles it will be observed from Figs. 3'

and 4 of the drawings that the said means for engaging the necks of thecontainers essentially consists of a rack plate 9, having a plurality ofrelatively narrow slots 10 for receiving the necks of the bottles, andalso provided at one edge portion of each slot with a spring-pressedholding detent 11. Each detent has a substantially hook-shaped endcoiiperating with the adjacent slot to grip the neck of a bottle andprevent its displacement until the proper time. All of the said detents11 are adapted to be simultaneously engaged by the upstanding lugs 12 ofa common releasing bar 13, each of which lugs engages with the tail of adetent when the bar 13 is shifted longitudinally to release the forwardengaging ends or hooks of the detents from gripping engagement with thebottle necks.

The transferring head H of the device A also includes the oppositevertically disposed supporting carrier rods 14 which are suitroller 23which is adapted to ride in the cam ably guided in the frame F wherebythe entire head may be lowered from the collecting station level intothe crates C fed therebeneath. As will be observed from Figs. 1 and 4,the rods 14: are fitted with the studs 15 which are adapted to berespectively engaged by the slotted ends of suitable motion-transmittinglevers 16 and 17 which are rigidly carried by a shaft 18 journaled inthe opposite side walls of the frame F. ()ne of the said levers, namelythe lever 16, is provided with a downwardly projecting slotted arm 19which is adapted to engage with a roller 20 projecting laterally from aslide bar 21 mounted to reciprocate in an inclined guide-way 22 formedin one of the side walls of the frame F. This slide bar 21 carries atthe end opposite its connection with the lever 16 another laterallyoffset groove 24 of acam disk 25 mounted upon the main actuating shaft26 of the operating unit D. r The formation of the groove 24 in the camdisk 25 is such that the initial movement of the disk 25 will slightlylower the entire transferring head whereby the threshold portion of therest 7 leading to the pockets 8 will register flush with the tablesurface 2 whereby the bottles may be conveniently placed into the headby the operation of the pusher plate 6 of the placing device. Then, asthe cam disk continues in its movement, the slide bar 21 will be pulledto the right in the guide-way 22 and thus cause the rocking of the shaft18 through the slot and roller connections 19 and 20, whereby both arms16 and 17 which are connected with the supporting rods 1 1 will swingdownwardly and cause the transferring head to lower the bottles heldthereby into crating position.

It will be observed that the general dimensions and structuralcharacteristics of the transferring head H are such that the same. maybe conveniently lowered into the crate as far as the top of thecheckers. When the head has reached this limit of movement, the beveledend 13 of the releasing bar 13 will strike against the bevel end of thestationary abutment 13 to cause the entire bar to be shifted lateralland actuate all of the spring-pressed etents or keeper members 11 whichgrip the neck of the bottle. This action releases the bottles andpermits the same to gently slide through the separating and guidingpockets 8 into the cells or checkers of the crate. After the bottleshave thus been deposited, the continued rotation of the cam disk 25 willcause the slide bar 21 to return to its normal position and consequentlythe transferring head H will thereby be elevated to its originalposition at the collecting station.

The placing device B which cotiperates with the transferring head todisplace bot- V tles from the receiving zone of the collecting time actsas a wall or guide for assisting the proper-alinement of the bottles onthe table or platform 2. As will be observed from Fig. 3 it constitutesin effect a continuation of one of the walls of the guide-way 4 when inits normal osition, and thus effectively coiiperates wit the slightlyelevated edge 7 of the rest 7 to compel the proper arrangement ofbottles in front of the receiving rack. The said pusher plate 6 hasconnected therewith suitable operating instrumentalities, which as willhereinafter more fully appear, are timed or synchronized to operate atproper intervals to cause the displacing of the group of containers fromthe collecting station into the transferring head. By reference to Figs.1 and 3 it will be observed that these instrumentalities consist in thepresent instance of a pair of relatively long levers 27 and 28 connectedat their upper ends by means of links L. directly with the pusher plate6 while their lower ends are mounted upon a transverse shaft 29journaled in the opposite side walls of the frame. As seen in Fig. 4,one of these levers, namely the lever 28, is provided with an extension30 whose lower end is slotted as at 31 and receives a roller 32 carriedupon a slide bar 33 mounted in an inclined guide-way 34 similar in allrespects to the guide-Way 22 and slide bar 21 on the opposite side wallof the frame. This slide bar 33 is also provided at the endopposite theroller 32 with another roller 35 which is adaptedto ride in the cam slot36 of a cam disk 37 rigidly carried by the actuating shaft 26 of theoperating unit D. Obviously the rotation of the shaft 26 will cause acorresponding rotation of the disk "37 and will move the slide bar 33,thus causing the shaft 29 carrying the lever arms 27 and 28 to rock andmove the pusher plate 6. e v

The operating unit D above referred to includes in addition to the shaft26 and cam disks 25 and 37, an intermediate crate advancing and feedingunit which provides for intermittently advancing the crates Cstep-by-step to bring the parallel rows of checkers in exact position toreceive bottles 1 from the transferring head H. In Fig. 3

this unit is shown as preferably consisting of a friction disk 38 keyedto shaft 36 and hav- V ing a hub portion 39 which is adapted to looselyreceive a sprocket wheel 40 having suitable radially projecting conveyeradvancing 'teeth 41 and laterally projecting escapement teeth 42. Thiswheel 40 is held frictionally engaged with the disk 38 fast on the shaft26 by means of the friction presser jecting pin 48 carried by the camdisk 25.

disk 43 and springs v43 it being noted that the friction disk 43 isslidably mounted on the hub or sleeve 39 of the disk 38 so that thesprocket is frictionally clamped between the two disks. Therefore, undernormal conditions when the shaft 26 is rotated the teeth 41 of thesprocket wheel will engage with the links of the conveyer chain a; to'properly advance the crates in the guideway G. For the purpose ofinsuring only a definite predetermined movement for the crates,corresponding to each actuation of the head H, there is provided a tripshaft 43 carrying at its intermediate portion an escapement dog 44 whichis adaptedv to engage with laterally projecting teeth 42 of the sprocket40 to arrest its movement at the proper time. This shaft 43* isjournaled in the opposite side walls of the frame F, and is normallyrocked by a spring 45 in such a direction that the dog 44 will be in aposition to engage one of the teeth 42. This spring 45 engages with aradially projecting arm 46 carried at one end of the shaft 43 (seeFig. 1) and fastens to the frame or other fixed point of connection. Theopposite end of the shaft 43 carries therewith a radially projectingtripping arm 47 which is adapted to be engaged by a laterally pro- Theeffect of the engagement of the pin 48 with the arm 47 is, when the disk25 moves, to rock the shaft 43 against the tension of the spring 45 torelease the hook end of the dog 44 from engagement with one of theescapement teeth 42. In this connection it will be noted that the pin 48is normally in such a position that the first movement of the shaft 26will cause it to engage with the arm 47 to rock the shaft 43 and thusrelease the sprocket-40 so that the movement of the shaft 26 will causethe same to ad- Vance one of the crates until the hooked end of the dogengages with the next escapement tooth. Obviously, the rotation of thecam disk 25 and also the cam disk 37 which are fixed on the shaft 26will continue to perform the functions of operating the pusher plate andalso the transferring head, after the movement of the sprocket 40 hasbeen arrested by the dog 44. The friction mount: ing of the sprocketwheel 40, of course readily permits of this action taking place.Referring further to the operating unit D it will be observed from Fig.3 of the drawing that the shaft 26 has fitted to one end thereof acombined driving and automatic clutch arrangement which includes a bevelgear-49, loose on'the shaft and having a. ratchet hub 50 receiving acollar 51 keyed on the shaft 26 and including a trol rod 55 whichconstitutes a part of a container-actuated stop-motion device to' bepresently referred to.

The bevel gear 49 engages a beveled pinion 49 carried upon a shaft 49having a chain and sprocket connection 49 with the driving means for thecontainer feeding conveyer 5. Thus, it will be apparent that power fordriving the shaft 26 is derived through the shaft 49 fromv the samemeans which operates the container conveyer leading from the labeling orother machine to the present crating apparatus. And, for the purpose ofactuating the shaft 26 only at the desired intervals, namely when theoperation of pushing the bottles into the transferring head, loweringthe latter, and then advancing the crate for the next load the containeractuated control or stop-motion device comes into play to release thelatch 53 to permit it to engage with the ratchet hub 50 of the gear 49which is loose on the shaft 26. Thus, the construction is such that whenthe pawl end of the latch 53 engages with the ratchet hub 50 through therelease of the latch by the withdrawal of the member 55 from engagementwith the head 54- thereof, the'bevel gear 49 and shaft 26 will bedirectly connected to rotate together.

Then, after the shaft 26 has made its cycle the angular end 54 of thelatch 53 will again engagewith the member 55 to withdraw the pawl end ofthe latch from engagement with the ratchet hub 50. and thus stop therotation of the shaft 26.

Referring now more particularly to the member 55, which as previouslyindicated, is a part of a container-actuated control or stop-motiondevice, it will be observed more particularly from Fig. 4 that the saidmember 55 is a rod which is pivotally connected to the arms 56 and 57,respectively carried by the opposite side Walls of the frame F, and thelatter arm (57) being connected with a shaft 58 whichis connected with arelatively long lever 59 carrying at its upper end a container-actuatedrod 60 which projects through the stop wall 61 located at.

one side of the table or platform 2, whereby its free end may be readilyengaged by the containers pushed into the receiving zone of thecollecting station. For the purpose of maintaining the lever 59 and itsassociated members in proper and actual position a spring 62 may beutilized. (See Figs. 3 and 4.)

- From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present apparatusprovides for receiving the bottles or containers direct from thelabeling or like apparatus onto the platform 2, between the edge of therest element 7 of the transferring head and the vertical pusher plate 6of the placing device, and when a sufficient number of containers havebeenpushed onto the platform or table 2,

shaft will first cause the pin 48 to engage the arm 47 to rock the shaft43 to disengage the dog 44 from the particular escapement tooth withwhich it is engaged, whereby the sprocket wheel 40 will cause the crateconveyer to advance a, crate the distance of one row of checkers tobring the empty. row into position to receive the unit of bottles to beplaced therein by the feeding head of the transfer device. Afterthe'crate is in position the continued movementof' the shaft 26 will notaffect the position of the crate owing to the friction clutcharrangement previously indicated in connection with the sprocket 40, butthe cam disks 25 and 37 will cause the operation of the slide bars 21and 33 to respectively operate the pusher plate 6 of the placing deviceto sweep the bottles into the .rack of the feeding head, and then lowerthe transferring head with the bottles into the crate where they will bereleased at the downward limit of movement of the head through theengagement of the releasing bar 12 with the bevel abutment 13 A featureof practical importance in connection with the operation of the presentmachine is that of having the crate guideway inclined as at y where itdirects the crates onto the horizontal part of the guideway beneath thebottle collecting and trans ferring station. By reason of thisarrangement the crates will feed downward from an incline so that asthey enter the machine their top edges only will be in contact. The

practical effect of thus feeding the crates with their top edges only incontact is to leave a very substantial separation between the bottom.edges of the crate at the point where the conveyer projections or lugsw engage with the end of the crate to be advanced step by step beneaththe collecting and transfer station. In this connection it ble materialplaced on the conveyer lugs or fingers a2 which will serve to hold thecrates firmly between the fingers or lugs regardless of the variationsin length.

Another feature of practical importance is the structural characteristicof the dropping transfer head which may be readily removed from itscarrier rods and be replaced by another head to suit various shapes andsizes of containers, and likewise, the machine may be readily adapted tohandle various sizes of crates by simply changing the side guides: onthe crate guideway and thenumber of the lugs on the driving sprocket.

While the embodiment of the invention herein shown and describedpossesses special utility in its application to placing containers in acellular shipping crate itwill of course be understood that my inventionis not limited to this particular use of the apparatus, since the novelinstrumentalities employed by me, in the' various combinations claimed,are available for use for crating purposes generally, to properlyassemble bottles, cans and other containers, and place them in properorder in their shipping crates, boxes, or' other packages.

Other practical features and advantages of the machine will be apparentto those fa-,

miliar with the art, and furthermore various changes in the form,proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of theinvention. A

I claim a 1. A crating apparatus including crate feeding means, acontainer collecting station above the crate feeding means, a transferdevice "for receiving the group of containers from the collectingstation and holding the same therein, and an operating unit havingsynchronized operating connections respectively with the crate feedingmeans and transfer device for lowering the latter toward the crate.

2. A crating apparatus including a container collecting station, meansfor feeding a crate beneath said station, a transfer device at one sideof said station and having means for receiving and engaging containersplaced therein from the collecting station and also having means forguiding the same into position in the crate, and means ,carried by thetransfer device for releasing the containers therefrom and actuated bythe return movement of the device to its normal position; v

A crating apparatus including a collecting station, means for feeding acrate beneath said station, and a transfer device arranged at one sideof the collecting station and having a plurality of spaced pockets forreceiving the containers from the collecting station, means associatedwith each pocket for engaging and holding the containers,

and means carried by the transfer device and actuated by its movement inreturning tioned above the crate feeding means and 7 adapted to receivethe containers in a line transverse to the line of crate feed, atransferring head arranged at one side of the platform of the collectingstation and having container engaging and holding means and a placingdevice for moving the containers from the platform of the collectingstation into the receiving head, said device including a pusher platedisposed transversely to the line of crate feed and parallel to the lineof container feed to the platform of the collecting station.

5. A crating apparatus including crate feeding means, a containercollecting station including a stationary platform arranged above thecrate feed means, a transfer device for displacing the groupedcontainers from the platform of the collecting station and mounted toreciprocate vertically, a device for displaying the grouped containersfrom the stationary platform into the transfer device, an operating unithaving synchronized actuating connections respectively with the cratefeeding means, transfer device, and the container displacing device, anda stop motion device operatively con nected with the operating unit andtripped by the containers collected on the station ary platform of thecollecting station.

' 6. A crating apparatus including crate feeding means, a containercollecting station including a stationary platform disposed at rightangles to the line of crate feed, a

ting the operating device in motion.

7. Aerating apparatus including a station having means for assembling a.num

ber of containers into a group, means for feedinga crate beneath saidstation, a transfer device arranged at one side of the assem-v blingstation and including\a transferring head consisting of a rack havingdetent means for engaging and holding a plurality of containers inspaced relation, and a placing device including apusher plate for movingthe bottles from the receiving zone of the collecting station into therack of the transferring head. Y

8. A crating apparatus including a collecting station having means forassembling a number of containers into a group, means for feeding acrate beneath said station and a transfer device arranged at one side ofsaid station, said transfer device consisting of a pair of verticallymovable rods, a rack carried by the upper end of said rods and includingan upper holding plate having a plurality of openings and spring-presseddetents cooperating with said openings, and a lower plate having aplurality of guide recesses for receiving the lower part of thecontainers, a detent operating bar associated with the upper plate ofthe rack, an abutment for cooperating therewith to shift the same,'and aplacing device arranged at the side of the station opposite the transferdevice and adapted to place containers from the station into the saidtransferring head.

9. A crating apparatus including a collecting station having means forassembling a number of containers into a group, means for feeding acrate beneath said station, a vertically movable transfer devicearranged at one side of the station and adapted to transfer containersfrom the collecting station level to the crates therebeneath, a placingdevice for positioning the grouped containers in the transfer device,and an operating unit having synchronized actuating connectionsrespectively with the crate feeding means, the transfer device and theplacing device, said operating unit including a main actuating shaft,spaced cam disks for actuating the connections to the placing device andtransfer device, and a friction drive unit for moving the cratefeedingmeans.

10. A crating apparatus including a collecting station, crate feedingmeans, a trans-- fer device at one side of the collecting station, aplacing device at the other side thereof, a stop motion devicecontrolled by containers at the collecting station, and an operatingunit having synchronized actuating connections with the transfer deviceand placing device, saidoperating unit including an escapement unitincluding a sprocket wheel for engaging with the crate feeding means andhaving laterally projecting escapement teeth, a trip shaft, a check dogcarried thereby and adapted to engage with the said escapement teeth, aspring for rocking said .shaft to cause the dog to engage with saidteeth, a trip arm also carried by the trip shaft, and means carried bythe operating shaft for operating said trip arm to temporarily releasesaid dog from engagement with the escapement teeth.

11. A crating apparatus including a collecting station for thecontainers, means for feeding a crate beneath said stationand ashiftable transfer device arranged to bodily carry the containers fromsaid station into the crate, said shiftable transfer device beingprovided with a rack for the containers and yielding holding meanstherefor.

12. A crating apparatus includinga collecting station for thecontainers, means for feeding a crate, and a-transfer device arranged totransfer a group'of the containers from the station into the crate, saidtransfer device having automatically released clamping elements for thecontainers.

- 13. A crating apparatus including a collecting station for thecontainers, means for feeding a crate and a transfer device arranged totransfer the containers from the station into the crate, said transferdevice including a container positioning rest and a holding rack abovethe rest.

14:. A crating apparatus including a collecting station for thecontainers, means for feeding a crate, a transfer device for thecontainers having a container positioning rest and a holding rack abovethe rest, and means for automatically'holding the containers in the rackand. also for releasing them therefrom.

15. A crating apparatus including a collecting station, crate feedingmeans, a transfer device having a container rest and a holding rack, andmeans carried by the rack for securing and releasing the containers.

16. A crating apparatus including a collecting station, crate feedingmeans below the collecting station, a shiftable transfer device arrangedto .bodily carry the containers from the station .to the crate andprovided with a holding rack for the individual containers and detentsfor holding the same therein, and .means, operative when the transferdevice is lowered, for releasing-said detents.

17. A crating apparatus including a collecting station, crate feedingmeans, a transfer device, a placing device coordinated with the transferdevice, and an operating unit including a friction escapement actuatingcon nection for the crate feed.

18. A crating apparatus including a collecting station, crate feedingmeans, a transfer device, a placing device, a stop motion devicecontrolled by the containers at the collecting station, and an operatingunit which is operatively connected with the transfer, placing and stopmotion devices and includes a friction escapement device for the cratefeed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

OAssrUs M. WRIGHT, G. V. FnnINGHUYsEN.

